Rabbit, rabbit!

I hadn’t intended to return to the subject of web influence but elsewhere on “the internet” there are people including quite well-known pundits telling us that we should be working on our Klout and PeerIndex ratings because they are supposed to influence how people see us. Apparently the scores affect whether we are invited for interviews in California. Well, maybe it’s the latest thing in Hollywood, but have you been to Hollywood? It really isn’t the real world, is it?

Rabbit

Not every fad will storm the world. It is easy to look up people on-line, and generally the only factor in advance of an interview or business meeting is whether you can find out something about the person. It is not going to be about how big a Klout score they have unless it is crucial to take on someone active in social media. Even then, one should still consider whether the person has true influence or whether they just Tweet links at the rate of one a minute, the on-line equivalent of rabbiting about nothing. Frankly those in the last category don’t have my respect and even if I like them on a personal basis I will miss the quality links amongst the dross. There will be dross in Tweets at the rate of one a minute, too.

Dog

So pardon me if I don’t set much store by these indices. I am not being a dog in the manger. My scores with both these measuring tools are fairly respectable according to the aficionados. I prefer simply to measure my influence through feedback from my network and how many enquiries I get re new business.

I don’t need to be judged by people who set store by some measure of fashionable noise making any more than one should be judged on whether one has an IPhone or a Lamborghini. What do you think?